Manufacture of leather articles



Sept. 1,1942. s, MARX 2,294,474 I MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER ARTICLES Filed Oct. 10, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR n BY WWW ATT RNE YS Willi/[7M5 SIEWPIM/VARX Sept. 1, 1942. as. MARX 2,294,474

MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER ARTICLES Filed Oct. 10, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Sept. 1, 1942. G. s. MARX 2,294,474

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MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER ARTICLES Filed OCt. 10, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY5 Patented Sept. 1, 1942 2,294,474 MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER ARTICLES Guilherme Siegfried Marx, New York, N. Y.

ApplicationOctober 10, 1940,

In Brazil October 12,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a method for the manufacture of leather articles and comprehends within its scope a novel method of carrying out the process of the invention when employed in the manufacture of shoes. particularly the invention relates to a method for the preparation of molded leather articles by vmeans of pressing leather following treatment in a chrome tanning, chrome tanning and softening, or other similar process and before the leather is permitted to dry following such treatment.

Chrome tanned leather is in general furnished to the manufacture of leather goods by the tannery in the form of. flat, dry sheets which are then manufactured into various leather goods by cutting to pattern and sewing or joining the various parts. Depending on the previous treatment the leather supplied to the manufacturer may be elastic and flexible, but will have a marked tendency to maintain its flat configuration. Chrome tanned leather in accordance with current practice is used principally in articles which are maintained in the desired shape or form by sewing or other junction means, or by rigid forms as in the case of shoes. Chrome tanned leather is used in this manner in articles such as shoes, bags and gloves which are made up of several parts and cut according to pattern, following which the various parts are joined by sewing or other convenient means of juncture. Such leather cannot be molded or shaped, or in accordance with a trade expression put upon the last in such a way that the treated article will maintain the acquired shape without external support such as sewing, or in the case of shoes by supports such as the toe box or counter. Furthermore, if such articles are subjected to contact with water and stretched or subjected to substantial deforming pressure, the leather Will be permanently stretched, thus ending in many instances the utility of the article.

I have found that if leather or skin, while still wet from treatment in a chrome tanning bath, or from a softening operation applied to the still wet leather from the chrome tanning bath, is mechanically molded to a desired shape by means of a pressing action, and thereafter dried, the thus molded product will retain its shape in spite of exposure to extremes of climatic conditions, to hot and cold water, or to substantial deforming forces. Leather, and particularly soft and pliable leather, molded in accordance with my invention may, of course, be temporarily deformed by pressure, but the More Serial No. 360,631

physical nature of the leather in the product is such that it will return to its molded shape after removal of the deforming- ;Eorce. I am unable to state definitely the reason for the observed outstanding advantage in leather objects made in accordance with the invention, but it is a fact that the physical characteristics are such that they afford substantial resistance to deformation such as stretching, which physical characteristics are quite divergent from those of the usual chrome leather. The processof the present invention makes possible the manufacture of numerous articles from a single piece of leather molded to the desired shape, which in the past have of necessity been manufactured from a plurality of individual pieces of leather, the shape of the article being maintained by the joining meansbetween the various sections. It is also possible, in accordance with the invention, to manufacture articles previously made from a large number of individual sections by the use of only a few sections, each of which has been molded to shape as herein described.

It has hitherto been proposed to manufacture certain leather articles by softening chrome tanned leather sheets by means of a soaking treatment in water or other softening agent, and

thereafter shaping the article to a desired form. A difliculty with such a procedure is that when the shaped articleis subjected to contact with water or'moisture, or various forces tending to cause a loss of shape, such as stretching, or to both, the article upon being dried will lose its shape. It has also been proposed to place raw or green leather on a form or last, and thereafter subjectit to the chrome tanning treatment. In such a p ocedure. it is diff ult, if not impossibl to u j c e lea er to the requi e amount of chrome tanning treatment inasmuch as the leather cannot be flexed in the solution, an operation which is important in securing a smooth and even tanning treatment throughout the leather.

According to the process of the invention the chrome tanned leather or skin, shortly after removal from the tanning bath and the required washing steps, or following a softening treatment consisting for example of oiling or treating with emulsions prior to the drying of the leather, is molded and shaped by a pressing operation wherein suitable forms are employed to press the leather into the desired shape. The pressing operation in accordance with the invention preferably comprises the application of pressure by a single form against one surface of the wet leather while slidably held in position across an appropriate opening in a suitably shaped table member, although it is possible to use a mold which includes both a positive and negative portion. Applying pressure against one surface by a single forming member leaves the other surface exposed, thus facilitating the drying operation. Operation in accordance with the invention does not include a procedure whereby the leather is pulled or stretched around a form or last. Any substantial degree of stretching such that a given area of leather in being shaped is stretched to assume a substantially greater area involves marked disadvantages. My

process avoids any substantial stretching by slidably holding the leather sheet circumferentially around an aperture in a table and in such a way that when pressure is applied to one surface by means of a form, the wet leather sheet is pressed into shape after sliding through the holding means. The molded and shaped article is thereafter dried while being held in the desired shape. By this process the disadvantages of the above mentioned previously proposed methods are eliminated, that is, the leather is thoroughly and properly tanned in the usual manner and the finished articles retain the shape given them.

It is to be understood that in accordance with the invention the ingredients of the tanning bath and the subsequent treatments of the leather in softening operations may be altered in known as substitutes for light weight pliable straw hats.-

Leather molded in accordance with the invention may be used to replace numerous rubber articles, and, in the case of those which come in contact with the body, the porosity of the leather permitting ventilation is of particular advantage. Such molded leather may also be used to replace many articles previously prepared from such dissimilar substances as metals, ivory, steel and pasteboard. Furthermore, leather articles produced in accordance with the invention may thereafter be water-proofed, dyed or polished without adversely affecting their shape or the quality of resistance to forces tending to cause a loss of shape.

In order to more completely describe the process of the invention, reference will be had to the attached drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a device suitable for mechanically molding by pressing various types of leather articles;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of an apparatus for use in the manufacture of shoe uppers;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional plan view taken along the line 33 of Fig. 2, illustrating in particular the bending plates;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken along the line 4--4 of Fig. 3, showing the arrangement of the bending plates;

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section of an apparatus for use in the manufacture of gloves, the section being taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in F g. 5;

Fig. '7 is a plan View of the lower mold section only of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5; r

Fig. 8 is a transverse vertical section taken 0 the line 8-8 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 9 is a rear plan View, or bottom view of the upper mold section or form forming part of the apparatus of Fig. 5.

The molding of various articles may conveniently be accomplished by means of appropriate variations of a device of the type illustrated in Fig. 1. A sheet of leather 5, still wet from a chrome tanning treatment, is placed upon a table I having an appropriately shaped aperture 2. The edges of the aperture may be shaped in accordance with the desired form of the finished product'or a separate removable ring member 6 may be recessed into the aperture edge as shown.

A slidable holding means 1, which may assume the form of a ring, is applied to the surface of the leather circumferentially of the aperture 2, and an appropriate form or last 8 is then pressed against the upper surface of the leather. The leather as a result of this pressure slides beneath and against the resistance offered by the holding means and assumes the shape of the last. In a device such as that illustrated the last may be forced tightly into the ring 6 which is shaped on its inner edge to correspond with the last, thereby providing a holding means to keep the leather in position until after drying, thus making unnecessary the further use of ring 1. It will be understood that in a device such as that illustrated,

- the ring 7 may be removed after the form has been forced into its final position, i. e. the form, leather and ring 6 may be removed from the table prior to drying, thus permitting immediate use of the table for further molding. The device as illustrated may be used to produce a single cup of a leather brassiere. Such other objects as gloves, hats, complete single-piece brassieres, etc. may be produced by changing the shape of the aperture 2 and the remainder of the movable parts. Depending on the article to be produced, the leather may be cut by suitable cutting means substantially circumferentiall of the aperture or at a distance spaced therefrom, and this cutting may be accomplished either before or after drying the molded leather.

,The process of the invention may be used with particular advantage in the preparation of gloves. In such an operation each glove may be made from only two molded .pieces of leather, an upper and a lower section, which are subsequently joined together by sewing or other appropriate junction means. Such a method possesses decided advantages over previous methods, wherein a large number of small pieces of leather must be cut to a required pattern and then sewn together, thus producing numerous junction ridges. By my process two pieces of leather, which have not undergone substantial drying following chrome tanning, are molded by means of pressing into an upper and lower section which have a substantially mirror image relationship and such that one portion constitutes the back of the glove and the other the palm section. The joint between the two portions may .be adjacent the back portion, or the palm portion, as desired. As aresult of such a process the gloves are completely pliable, but are not susceptible to is had to Fig. 2 of the being stretched out of shape as a result of normal wear.

The process of my invention may be used with particular advantage in the manufacture of shoes. It is possible, for example, to prepare an entire molded moccasin type shoe from a single :piece of leather by employing suitable forming means and pressing the leather into'the desired shape. This may be used as such, or an additional sole and heel may be attached. Shoes may also be made in which the entire shoe upper is of one piece, the molded upper after drying and removal from the last being attached to a sole and heel unit. A further embodiment of the invention comprises making a shoe upper from a relatively few molded portions. In accordance with present practice a number of pieces of finished leather are cut to pattern .and made into a shoe, wherein a toe-box and counter are used to reenforce and support the toe and heel portions of the shoe, and wherein the various portions are joined by sewing. In shoes containing no toe-box, but in which the toe portion and the vamp are made from a single piece of leather, the toe portion has a tendency to collapse and assume a more or less flat position. In accordance with the present invention a similar shoe portion is molded .by pressing with a form having the proper configuration. A shoe so molded will maintain its curvature during wear. Such a shoe has theadvantage of being flexible, and at the same time maintains its original desired shape when not subjected to a deforming pressure. It is, therefore, to be understood that in accordance with my invention shoes, slippers, and shoe uppers, which are resistant to forces tending to cause a loss of shape, may be made by mechanically molding by means of pressing leather which is still wet from a chrome tanning treatment, to a desired shape, and that this may be done in the form of a single piece or several pieces. 7 It will be understood that in the manufacture of shoes or other articles by my process, there is not involved the operation common to the methods of the art, of stretching a piece of leather around a last or form and fastening it to the form while additional operations are performed.

In order to describe more fully a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention when applied to the manufacture of shoes, reference drawings, which illustrates diagrammatically an appropriate and novel mechanism for pressing a piece of leather still wet from the chrome a shoe upper in a single piece. A piece of wet leather is placed on a table I having a surface curved to correspond generally to the shape of the sole portion of a shoe last and having a suitably shaped aperture 2. The surface of the table may with advantage slope inwardly toward the aperture as illustrated. A shoe last 8 is pressed by means of supports 2| with an even and gradual pressure against the upper surface of the leather sheet, thus pressing the leather through aperture 2, the leather being slidably held to the surface of the table by a suitable pressure which may be applied by a ring structure I. The restraining pressure applied to the leather by ring 'I may be altered depending on the characteristics of the leather by changing the weight. of the ring. The shoe last 8, having been pressed through the aperture 50 that the sole surface of the last is substantially below the lower surface of the table and slightly below tanning treatment to form the position illustrated in Fig. 2 land in contact at its base with a supporting block 9, a supplemental sectional mechanism Hl, comprising adjustable plates disposed below the surface of the table and capable of adjustment to exert a lateral pressure inwardly toward the center point of the top surface of the shoe last, is then moved inwardly, thus bending the leather over the top of the last. The last is then elevated by means of block 9, which may be activated by a lever mechanism l I until the inwardly bent leather on the surface of the last is in firm contact with sectional mechanism In, which in turn is in contact with the under surface of the table. A subsidiary holding ring I2 is then placed so that it bears downwardly inside aperture 2' on the leather in contact with the upper surface of the adjustable plate mechanism l0. This ring should be of substantially greater weight than the ring I, in order that a minimum of slippage will occur between the ring and the upper surface of mechanism I0, and furthermore the weight of the ring should approximately equal the upward force applied through block 9. The sectional plate mechanism If! is illustrated in Fig. 3, which is [a top plan view. I have found that a particularly effective method of assembly for such a mechanism comprises four relatively thin plates with two end plates 13 being shaped to partially enclose the two side plates I4. A relatively stiff butflexible wire l5 may be attached to the center of the concave surface of each of the sections 13, and may be so shaped that they will assume the configuration of the toe and heel portions of the shoe, the end portions of the wire being held within the pressure edges of side sections It. By an arrangement such as that illustrated an even inward pressure may be applied throughout the cincum'ference of the shoe last, and this pressure may be effected by exerting forces in opposite directions on the plates l3 axially of the shoe last. Such forces will serve to press side sections l4 inwardly toward the axis of the shoe at the same time applying a compressive longitudinal force. In order that the plates will not buckle when pressure is applied, guide plates I6 may, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, be attached to the end 'plates and disposed so as to overlap the side plate members. After the leather has been bent as described, the outer portions still resting on the surface of the table are cut off by means of a cutting means I1. This knife may be a single blade shaped to conform approximately to the outer circumference of the shoe last, or preferably is, as illustrated, a small blade which may be activated by any suitable driving means l8 to pass around the circumference, and may with advantage roll on the upper surface of the ring l2. Due to the fact that the leather is held tight by the ring l2, the knife will make a clean cut without stretching or deforming the leather. After cutting, the small bent-over section of leather which is on top of the surface of adjustable plate mechanism I I will tend to straighten out so that it will rest upon the top surface of the last. A fixing ring or plate I9 is then lowered to bear against the bent-over section of leather and may with advantage be locked tightly to the shoe last by means of one or more key mechanisms 20. The molded shoe upper is held in this position until the leather has dried and assumed a permanent shape. After drying the block 9 is removed and the leather is cut around the circumference of the bottom of the shoe last to form the toil opening of the shoe, and the various holding means are removed, the fixing ring unlocked and the shoe last removed.

The process when applied to the manufacture of gloves may be carried out in apparatus of the type shown in Figs. 5 to 9 inc. The lower mold section may be formed by walls 22 supported in any suitable way so that their upper edges lie substantially in the same plane as the surface of the table 23. As will be seen from Fig. 7, the walls 22 have a shape such that when viewed from above their upper edges conform to the shape of a glove. The portions 22' of these walls, which form the thumb part of the mold, are disposed at an angle to the rest of the walls (as best shown in Fig. 5) and their upper edges lie in the plane of the surface of a downwardly inclined portion 23' of the table. The upper mold section or form is shown at 24. Viewed from below it looks much like the inside of a human hand, as shown in Fig. 9. It has convex portions 25 adapted to move into the finger spaces in the lower mold section, and a portion 26 (Fig. 8) adapted to move into the palm opening of the lower mold section, and a portion 21 adapted to move into the thumb opening of the lower mold section. The thumb portion 21, in the raised portion of the form, is separate from the rest of the form. The main part of the form may be raised and lowered by any suitable means connected to it represented by the rod shown at 28. The thumb portion 21 of the form may likewise be moved into and out of the thumb opening in the lower mold section by similar means represented by the rod 29. It will be noted that the rod 29, and the thumb portion 21 of the form, move in a direction at an angle to the direction in which the rod 28 and the main portion of the 'form move. As the thumb portion of the form moves towards its lowest .position it interengages with the main portion of the form so that the two portions then become one in effect.

A leather holding frame 30 is adapted to be raised and lowered by any suitable means represented by the lever 3|. When this frame is down, its lower edge 32 is adapted to engage the leather around the entire edge of the handshaped opening in the lower mold section, ex-

cept for the thumb portion. A separate holding frame 33 is employed to. engage the leather around the thumb opening of the lower mold section. This frame is adapted to be raised and lowered by any suitable means represented by the lever 34. In the lowered position of the two frames 30 and 33 an arched portion on the frame 30, shown broken away in Fig. 6 but a portion of which appears at 35, spans the part of the frame 33 which holds the leather near the base of the thumb.

When it is desired to make the lower half, or palm portion of a glove, the holding frames 30 and 33, as well as the form portions 24 and 2! are raised, and a piece of wet leather is spread on the table so that it completely covers the hand-shaped opening in the lower mold section. The frames 30 and 33 are now lowered and the two portions of the fonn are moved downwardly to force the leather into all parts of the opening in the lower mold section. During this operation the leather slides under the frames 30 and 33, it being understood that an appropriate pressure is exerted on the leather by these frames as explained above in connection with the similar 7 frames 1 and 1' in Figs. 1 and 2. The leather takes the shape of the form and after it has dried it may be removed from the molding apparatus.

The upper half of the glove, or back portion, may be made in a similar manner and when the two halves are stitched together a complete glove is produced.

Iclaim:

1. In the manufacture of leather gloves the improvement which comprises producing upper and lower glove sections which, when joined together, .produce a single glove, by slidably holding, in a predetermined position by suitable holding means applied circumferentially of the desired cross-sectional shape of each of the glove sections, pieces of leather which have been subjected to a chrome tanning treatment and which have not undergone substantial drying following the chrome tanning treatment, molding the portions of the said leather pierces within said holding means to a desired shape by applying pressure thereto by means of an appropriate form, and thereafter drying the thus molded sections while being maintained in the said desired shapes.

2. In the manufacture of leather articles the improvement which comprises producing several sections which, when joined together, produce a single article, by slidably holding in a predetermined position by suitabl holding means applied circum'ferentially of the desired cross-sectional shape of each of the sections of the artilcle, pieces of leather which have been subjected to a chrome tanning treatment and which have not undergone substantial drying following the chrome tanning treatment, molding portions of the said leather pieces within said holding means to a desired shape by applying pressure thereto by means of an appropriate form, and thereafter drying the thus molded sections while being maintained in the said desired shapes.

3. In the manufacture of leather articles the improvement which comprises producing several sections which, when joined together, produce a single article, by slidably holding in a predetermined position by suitable holding means applied circumferentially of the desired cross-sectional shape of each of the sections of the article, pieces of leather which have been subjected to a chrome tanning treatment and which have not undergone substantial drying following the chrome tanning treatment, molding portions of the said leather pieces within said holding means to a desired shape by applying pressure thereto by means of an appropriate form, drying the thus molded sections while being maintained in the said desired shapes, and thereafter joining together the molded sections.

4. In the manufacture of leather articles of wearing apparel the improvement which comprises producing several complementary molded sections which, when joined together, produce a single hollow article, by shaping pieces of leather which are still wet from a chrome tanning treatment and which are of a size and shape to [form the desired molded sections about forms having the contour of the desired molded sections, and :permitting the leather pieces to dry in contact with the forms, whereby the leather pieces take a permanent set of the shape of the forms, and thereafter joining the complementary molded sections together to produce the single hollow article.

GUILHERME SIEGFRIEID MARX 

